Owners and operators of fleet vehicles and individual owners with inexperienced drivers have a number of concerns as to how the vehicles are driven in the course of their daily operations.
One of these concerns is the driving behavior, and in particular erratic or aggressive driving behavior. In addition, the ability to monitor and detect abnormal events such as collisions, vehicle rollover, excessive vibration and other dynamic vehicle events are of concern.
The measurement of vehicle parameters such as date, time, location, speed, and acceleration can be performed as part of a data logging function, much like a black box in an aircraft.
Various approaches for accelerometer alignment have been used in the past. One method is manually installing the sensor in a vehicle such that the axes of the sensor are physically aligned with the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical axes of the vehicle. Another method uses known accelerations along the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical axes of the vehicle to align the accelerometer. These methods require skilled installers and are time consuming.
Another undesirable aspect of the aforementioned methods is that the accelerometer can become misaligned over time due to vehicle impacts or mishandling. Such misalignments are not easily detected or corrected when the accelerometer has been deployed in the field and is operating.
It is desirable for an alignment method to require very little skill and time of the installer. In addition, it is desirable to use an alignment process that can adapt to sensor misalignment in the field.